Stargazing
by Phantasmaglorya
Summary: Maki joins Kaito for some stargazing. Random star trivia and fluff ensues. [Non-Despair / Ultimate Talent Development Plan-AU]


Sooo… it's my birthday today. And I remembered that it was also Kaito's birthday. And since he's one of my favorite characters, I decided to write a little something to celebrate the day. I didn't want to write crack, didn't want anything heavy either, so I thought I'd go for something short and sweet… which I actually kind of suck at. Didn't have much time to perfect it, since it was a pretty spontaneous idea, but here we go anyway. Hope you enjoy it!

**Stargazing**

"Momota?" The voice made him turn his head to the side. He could see Maki frowning down at him as she walked over from the door to where he was lying on the ground. "What're you doing here in the middle of the night?"

He smiled, going back to facing the night sky above them, but keeping his eyes on her. "Stargazing, of course."

He couldn't quite make it out in the darkness, but he was sure she was rolling her eyes at him. "I can see that. I was wondering why you were doing it on the school's rooftop."

He shrugged. "They're better visible up here. It's not exactly the top of a lonely mountain, but at least it's above most of the city lights."

"You're going to catch a cold," she said matter-of-factly.

He chuckled a bit. "No, I won't. Who do you think I am? I'm Momota Kaito, Luminary of the Stars! Before I catch a cold, the cold would have to catch up with me!" He heard her sigh, which made him grin. Then a different thought came to him. "Hey, why are you on the roof, anyway?" He had an excuse, but he didn't really see what reason she would have for coming here. It was past midnight after all and the students were supposed to be in their dorms.

He sat up then to be able to look at her more properly without twisting his neck. She was twirling one of her pigtails in her hands.

"I saw you climbing up the stairs a while ago, but you never returned."

"Aww, sorry, I didn't know you were waiting for me."

"Don't be ridiculous," Maki said, not looking at him. "I just happened to notice."

"Alright," he replied, laughing before patting the ground to his left. "Well, since you're already here, why don't you join me for a bit?"

"I don't really see the point."

Despite her words, she came a few steps closer and sat down beside him. Kaito smiled fondly and laid back down. Maki copied him a moment later.

Every time Kaito was stargazing, he was reminded of the breathtaking landscape that was space. It incited a feeling of wonder in him that made him want to conquer it even more. To claim it all as a part of his personal playground. He couldn't understand how others couldn't feel that urge whenever they looked up at the night sky.

Harumaki probably wasn't a person who would care about these things in the first place. The thought was a bit disheartening, but that wouldn't stop him. He could just let it go and enjoy the moment of company in spite of it, but he for some reason, he really wanted to share this with her. He wanted her to see what it was that fascinated him.

And so he raised his hand to point at the sky and made a small arch as his finger connected four starsin the air. "Look, that's Aries, right above us. The current zodiac sign. Do you see it?"

"No, I don't." He could tell from her tone that she didn't mean to discourage him. She was just stating a fact, but it still took the wind out of his sails a bit.

"Oh. It's… uhm… those four right there. This one's Hamal, the brightest star in the constellation. And a bit to the side is-"

She interrupted him. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to be looking for."

"Ah…" Right, he doubted she had ever taken much of a close look at the stars. His heart sank a little, but he'd be damned if he let that stop him. "Yeah, maybe that constellation is a bit too obscure. But you know what Orion looks like, right?"

Maki shifted a little in a semblance of a shrug. "More or less."

Only more or less?! Orion was probably _the_ most well-known constellation! How could she not know exactly what it looked like? "Uhm, well it's that one, right there." He traced the stars again, this time in an angle closer to the ground, beneath Aries. "It's lying on its side, so you'd have to turn the textbook image a bit in your head. Do you recognize it?" He really didn't know what else he could do to make her see it.

Kaito turned his head to face her, his finger still pointing upwards. She was squinting and tilting her head a little, but he could see that she didn't know what she was supposed to find.

His arm fell and with a small sigh, he looked back at the sky. Yeah, he probably should have at least shown her a picture before.

All of a sudden, she startled him by scooting closer, leaning her head over so it was right next to his. "Show me again, I need to see it from your position," she demanded.

A smile found its way back on his face and he leaned his head over to her as well. He traced the constellation again with his finger, this time using his left arm, so it would align better with her eyes. He drew the outline carefully and slowly, and he could tell that she was really trying to see it. Her head moved ever so slightly along with his hand. Kaito could feel her hair just barely graze his cheek as she did so. It tickled a bit and caused goosebumps to erupt all over his skin.

"I think I found it," Maki said, making his attention snap back to the sky. She raised her own arm now, indicating three stars in particular. For a moment, their hands moved in unison. "That's the belt, isn't it?"

"Yeah!" Kaito exclaimed excitedly. "Did you know that the stars forming the belt are actually a lot hotter than the sun?"

She shook he head. "I didn't."

"I guess most people wouldn't. In the Morgan-Keenan system, stars are sorted into the categories O, B, A, F, G, K and M in that order, with O being the hottest and M the coolest. The stars in Orion's belt are in category O, while the sun is only in G," he explained.

There was a hint of amusement in her voice when she asked, "Aren't the letters a bit random?"

Kaito scratched at his head. "Uh, yeah, kind of. There used to be a different system in alphabetical order, but when we learned more about space, they reordered the categories by different criteria and some letters were left out entirely, so there's not much left of the original order. But the letters just kind of stuck, so that's what we still use now." Then he chuckled, remembering what his teacher had taught him when he first learned about the system. "But there's actually a memory hook to remember the letters. You just need to think of the sentence 'Oh Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me.' It's a bit silly, but it makes it much easier to-"

He cut himself off when, after some slight shuffling around on her part, he felt a pair of lips pressed to his cheek for just a second. His eyes went wide, his head turning around so fast, he almost got whiplash from it. "Did you just-?!"

Maki stared back at him with a small smirk on her face, the spark in her eyes was almost a challenge. She was so close, he could feel her breath ghost over his face when she spoke, "Sorry, I took that as a request."

Kaito was speechless for a moment. He felt as if a new star had just been born in his chest, flaring up and encompassing his entire being in a warm glow.

Her smirk grew. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted to tell me about the temperature of-"

With a smile, he closed the distance between them and sealed her lips in a proper kiss this time. The stars could wait. They would still be there tomorrow. And so would she. If she could fall in love with him, there would be plenty of time to make her fall in love with the universe as well.


End file.
